One Hour show format.

[christrester]

Hey gang,

Hoping you could help me out with something. What was the basic layout/format MACW was using for their TV in the 70's? How many matches interviews did they have one each show ect? It will help me prove a point to a rather hard headed freind of mine.

[cwh47]

This is an example of the show format that was used at least
until the summer of 1974.This the Charlotte show from Feb.7,
1970.

The winners of these three matches were interviewed at
ringside after they won their matches and the posters for
upcoming shows were shown during the interviews.Everything
was done within the shows back then.

After the local shows ended and Crockett syndicated the shows
from WRAL,the match format stayed pretty much the same.We
might get to see four matches on occasion since now all the
matches were one fall.

The interview format changed the most.For example now
Bob Caudle might do an interview before the first match.
Also now most of the interviews we saw were during the
commercial breaks when the local promos were inserted.

I liked the sixties and early seventies format better.You got
to see the angles built up on tv,then the wrestlers would be
interviewed for the upcoming events.

With syndication the wrestlers you saw interviewed in the
inserted promos sometimes had not even wrestled on the
show you were watching that day.

[Baltimore Jack]

The format for the Mid-Atlantic and World Wide (Wide World) shows remained a constant from when I first regularly started watching wrestling in 1975 through the end of the studio period in 1983.

It was six segments that basically went like this:

SEGMENT #1
Opening Theme
Opening comments by show hosts and run down of matches
(this would sometimes included an interview)
Ring Introductions for opening match
First Match

SEGMENT #2
Second match
Local Promos (inserted by each station)

SEGMENT #3
Third match

SEGMENT #4
Mid-show interview
Ring introductions for next match

SEGMENT #5
Fourth match
Local Promos (inserted by each station)

SEGMENT #6
Fifth match
Show ending interview
Closing theme/credits

The only difference between the Mid-Atlantic and World Wide shows in this format was that one had the local promos after the 2nd match (as above) and the other had them after the third match. I don't recall at the moment which one was which.

When I first started watching wrestling regularly in 1975, they actually did ring introductions for every match in the ring. Joe Murnich did them on Mid-Atlantic; David Crockett did them on Wide World. By sometime in 1976, they only did ring introductions for the first match and the match that followed the "halftime" interview.

When they moved to the smaller arenas for TV tapings, this format started to gradually change. It evolved into many more interviews and another match or two squeezed in.

[dogthuhoops2k]

looking back on it... those shows in the mid 70s and early 80s where really tight...then again we are also talking about a production crew from WRAL, which at the time had a great reputation. Still do and certainly cleans house here in Raleigh.

When I watch tapes of old wrestling shows from different areas, Memphis, Mid South, and even Georgia and Florida, MACW's production in the mid 70s to early 80s, was far superior, in my opinion.

To the average wrestling fan, production might not seem like a big deal...and watching some of tapes that have been released in recent years...it can be somewhat painful, but having a professional looking product is very important. When your production value rivals that of legitimate sports broadcasts, like MACW's back in those years it can help people become fans just because it doesnt look like some backwoods production. Helps nab sponsors too.

[christrester]

Thanks guys, I went to Fayetville to see my brother in law this past weekend, and he was going on and on about how wrestling promotions cannot sell their products without 2 hours, I told him they could easily do it with the right format in an hour, because MACW did and blew everything they are doing now out of the water. He didn't believe me that you could pack anything into an hour, this will show him otherwise

[ironanderson]

dogthuhoops2k said:

looking back on it... those shows in the mid 70s and early 80s where really tight...then again we are also talking about a production crew from WRAL, which at the time had a great reputation. Still do and certainly cleans house here in Raleigh.

When I watch tapes of old wrestling shows from different areas, Memphis, Mid South, and even Georgia and Florida, MACW's production in the mid 70s to early 80s, was far superior, in my opinion.

To the average wrestling fan, production might not seem like a big deal...and watching some of tapes that have been released in recent years...it can be somewhat painful, but having a professional looking product is very important. When your production value rivals that of legitimate sports broadcasts, like MACW's back in those years it can help people become fans just because it doesnt look like some backwoods production. Helps nab sponsors too.

Under Scott the product all around was untouchable. Really picking up where Florida left off (not that Florida was bad). It continued through the first year of Funk Jr's stint no doubt. Not as tight all around under Anderson and Funk Jr. but still top notch.